Most people know that Alice Cooper is considered the king of shock rock. When he’s not being executed by guillotine or dancing across the floor with Cold Ethyl, he brings his brand of horror to other arenas besides the stage. If you thought you were safe from his influence, think again.
Alice Cooper has appeared or lent his talent to many projects over his long career. While an exhaustive list would be time consuming to compile, here are a few of my favorites.
Just when you thought The Muppet Show was a safe children’s program, a fun break from adulthood, the frightening Alice Cooper appeared as a guest star in 1978. He performed “Welcome to My Nightmare” while dressed as Dracula, shared tender moments in a duet with Miss Piggy on “You and Me,” and closed the show with the hit “School’s Out.” He was poised to recruit more Sick Things (as his fans are known) from the kiddie set.
You may remember Alice Cooper taunting kids in a more recent Staples commercial for back to school shopping. A Wednesday Addams-inspired girl thought Alice said that school was out forever. The rocker corrects her, and takes great joy in filling a cart with school supplies as “School’s Out” plays over the store’s sound system.
In 1986 Cooper lent his musical talent to one of the more popular entries in the Friday the 13th franchise, Jason Lives. The theme song to the film is “He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask),” but “Teenage Frankenstein,” and “Hard Rock Summer” are also heard throughout the movie as well.
The artist appeared onscreen in 1997’s John Carpenter movie Prince of Darkness. He had no lines to speak, but he led the gang of creepy people roaming the streets.
Cooper had a role in 1991’s Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare. He portrayed Freddy’s foster father. The character was an alcoholic who beat his son, and his abuse inflicted on the young boy contributed to the making of the killer Freddy Krueger would become.
One of the biggest catch phrases of the 90’s was Wayne and Garth’s “We’re not worthy”! Cooper appeared as himself in the popular comedy, and when the two lovable loafs from Wayne’s World met their idol after watching a concert, they dropped to their knees in deference, uttering those three words. Cooper performs “Feed My Frankenstein” in the movie.
In 2009 the shock rocker appeared in the horror-comedy Suck, which I am pleased to say didn’t. It’s worth checking out.
2009 also saw the release of the first Halloween single from Cooper titled “Keepin’ Halloween Alive.” It’s a catchy tune, and who better to keep Halloween going throughout the entire year than a man who took on two popular horror villains.
Theme parks also aren’t safe from the leather clad madman. Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights has had mazes and haunted houses based on the singer’s body of work.
The character of Alice Cooper comes alive on the stage but his creator, Vincent Furnier, sometimes has his monster appear in places you wouldn’t expect. From kid shows to commercials, no one is safe from his wrath.
Ha! I didn’t know about any of these outside of Wayne’s World and the old Muppet show appearance. Did you see the documentary on Shep Gordon? Cooper features prominently in that as well.
That Staples commercial was awesome. I had never seen that!
Jason, if you mean Supermensch, it’s in my Netflix queue.Sometime I hope to check it out. I agree, Robin, the commercial was great!